Transcript of Lesson 1 for July 2, 2011. In the beginning, worshipping God was a spontaneous act of men. Worship...
- Slide 1
- Lesson 1 for July 2, 2011
- Slide 2
- In the beginning, worshipping God was a spontaneous act of men.
Worship came with a personal encounter with God face to face;
everyday and especially on Sabbath which God set aside for Him.
When Adam and Eve sinned, worship was immediately affected. Then,
instead of coming to God, they ran from Him. Sin opened a breach
between God and man and then two lines of worshippers emerged:
1.Those who worshipped God following the standard He had set.
2.Those who didnt want to follow guidelines and invented their own
kind of worship, following a wrong worship method.
- Slide 3
- FOLLOWING GODS ORDER FOLLOWING THEIR OWN CRITERIA God ordered
that He must be worshipped by sacrificing an animal as a
representation of Jesus blood that would be shed at the cross for
our sins. Abel presented that kind of offer before God. Cain
disobeyed Gods order and offered the fruit of his own effort. Abel
offered a sacrifice by faith, but Cain offered his own works as a
sacrifice. All true worship must center on the realization that we
are helpless to save ourselves and that all our attempts at
salvation by works are manifestations of Cains action here. True
worship must be based on a realization that only through Gods grace
can we have any hope of eternal life.
- Slide 4
- Since Abel died, the existence of two lines of worshippers
became clear: Cains and Seths children. The lasts followed the
living God, but the others followed their own impulses. That is
very clear in the song of the seventh human generation: Lamech y
Enoch. Lamech chose Cain as his example of worship. He only
accepted God to save him (to avenge him) from his enemies. Then
Lamech said to his wives: Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; Wives of
Lamech, listen to my speech! For I have killed a man for wounding
me, Even a young man for hurting me. If Cain shall be avenged
sevenfold, Then Lamech seventy-sevenfold Then Lamech said to his
wives: Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; Wives of Lamech, listen to
my speech! For I have killed a man for wounding me, Even a young
man for hurting me. If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, Then Lamech
seventy-sevenfold (Genesis, 4: 23-24) Now Enoch, the seventh from
Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, "Behold, the Lord
comes with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment on all,
to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly
deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the
harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him. (Judas,
14-15) Enoch, on the other hand, worshipped God in the context of
His Second Coming and His fair judgment.
- Slide 5
- For some time the two classes remained separate. The race of
Cain, spreading from the place of their first settlement, dispersed
over the plains and valleys where the children of Seth had dwelt;
and the latter, in order to escape from their contaminating
influence, withdrew to the mountains, and there made their home. So
long as this separation continued, they maintained the worship of
God in its purity. But in the lapse of time they ventured, little
by little, to mingle with the inhabitants of the valleys. This
association was productive of the worst results. The sons of God
saw the daughters of men that they were fair. The children of Seth,
attracted by the beauty of the daughters of Cains descendants,
displeased the Lord by intermarrying with them. Many of the
worshipers of God were beguiled into sin by the allurements that
were now constantly before them, and they lost their peculiar, holy
character. Mingling with the depraved, they became like them in
spirit and in deeds; the restrictions of the seventh commandment
were disregarded, and they took them wives of all which they chose.
The children of Seth went in the way of Cain (Jude 11); they fixed
their minds upon worldly prosperity and enjoyment and neglected the
commandments of the Lord. Men did not like to retain God in their
knowledge; they became vain in their imaginations, and their
foolish heart was darkened. Romans 1:21. Therefore God gave them
over to a mind void of judgment. Verse 28, margin. Sin spread
abroad in the earth like a deadly leprosy. E.G.W. (Patriarchs and
Prophets, cp. 6, pg. 81)
- Slide 6
- When evil filled all the earth, God destroyed the Earth with
the Flood, but saved Noah and his family. When the Flood ended and
the waters went down, Noah went out the ark and worshipped God. He
built an altar and offered a sacrifice on it. His first thought was
to thank God for saving them, recognizing his total dependence on
God and showing his belief in the coming of the Messiah to redeem
the human race.
- Slide 7
- The answer was: Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My
commandments, My statutes, and My laws (Genesis, 26: 5) ; And he
believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness
(Genesis, 15: 6) Once Gods promises had been fulfilled, Abraham was
subjected to a severe test of faith. In that test, he understood
how God felt when He had to give His Son to save this world. He
understood how its only through Jesus represented by the lamb God
provided that we can obtain salvation. God called Abraham to go out
his land, so he could move away from idols and be able to freely
worship the true God.
- Slide 8
- Jacob passed himself off as his brother Esau and deceived his
father to get the birthright. His brother threatened to kill him,
so hi runaway to Haran. The evening of the second day found him far
away from his fathers tents. He felt that he was an outcast, and he
knew that all this trouble had been brought upon him by his own
wrong course. The darkness of despair pressed upon his soul, and he
hardly dared to pray. E.G.W. (Patriarchs and Prophets, cp. 17, pg.
182-183) But he was so utterly lonely that he felt the need of
protection from God as he had never felt it before. With weeping
and deep humiliation he confessed his sin, and entreated for some
evidence that he was not utterly forsaken. Still his burdened heart
found no relief. He had lost all confidence in himself, and he
feared that the God of his fathers had cast him off. But God did
not forsake Jacob. His mercy was still extended to his erring,
distrustful servant. The Lord compassionately revealed just what
Jacob neededa Saviour. He had sinned, but his heart was filled with
gratitude as he saw revealed a way by which he could be restored to
the favor of God.
- Slide 9
- Jacobs response to the divine revelation was an act of worship.
He recognized the holiness of that place by calling it House of
God. He made a pact of obedience and loyalty to God. He promised to
return God the tithe of all that God would give him. Jacob felt the
greatness of God and his own smallness. Worship is not about
approaching God as you would some buddy or pal. Our attitude should
be that of a sinner in dire need of grace, falling before our Maker
with a sense of need, fear, and gratefulness that God, the Creator
of the universe, would love us and do so much in order to redeem
us.
- Slide 10
- Why do we worship God? Noah Because we want to thank His
salvation Abraham Because He ordered it Jacob Because we show
reverence before His presence What has He done that makes Him
worthy of worship? Noah Saving us from danger and giving us another
chance Abraham He offered his Son to give us salvation Jacob He
promises protection What purpose does our worship of God serve?
Noah Showing gratitude Abraham Showing faith Jacob Showing the
desire of acting according to His will